No shot, no key to dorm room for college students

Caryn Weng, a freshman from Malaysia, moves into her new dorm room at Hardin-Simmons University on Thursday afternoon. Under a new Texas law, freshman and transfer students living in dorms must get the meningitis vaccination at least 10 days before moving into campus housing.

Tina Phan/Reporter-News

Resident assistant LeighAnna Routen helps Caryn Weng (right), a freshman from Malaysia, move into her new dorm at Hardin-Simmons University on Thursday afternoon. Under a new Texas law, freshman and transfer students living in dorms must be vaccinated against meningitis at least 10 days before moving into campus housing.

photos by Tina Phan/Reporter-News

Caryn Weng moves into her new dorm room at Hardin-Simmons University on Thursday afternoon.

The H-E-B pharmacy is holding a clinic this morning offering a variety of vaccines, including a shot that will guard against bacterial meningitis, which is required for all incoming and transfer college students.

The clinic will be held from 9 a.m. until noon at H-E-B on South 14th and Barrow streets.

School immunizations also are available at the Abilene-Taylor County Public Health District, 850 N. 6th St. The shots are given on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the first Tuesday of each month.

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Some new students are being temporarily turned away from residence halls at Abilene's three universities because they haven't gotten the meningitis vaccine required under a new law.

About 25 to 30 university students are bunking in hotels and faculty homes because they can't move into on-campus housing until 10 days after they get the vaccine for meningococcal disease, known as meningitis.

"Our hands are tied," said Ronda Hoelscher, the nurse at McMurry University, where four new students have had to find temporary alternative housing so far. "It's state law."

This is the first fall that about a dozen states are requiring all freshman or transfer students to get the shot for the deadly disease that has been making appearances on college campuses in recent years. The law went into effect in January.

The students being turned away are those without the shot who are trying to check in early for athletics, band or to meet visa requirements.

The number includes about 15 to 18 international students at Abilene Christian University who are staying in a hotel.

Officials at all three universities are putting together plans for next week, when freshmen start flooding in before classes start Aug. 23.

"We are allowing them to move their things into their dorm rooms, but we can't give them a key until those 10 days are up," said Vanessa Roberts, McMurry's dean of students. "It has been an interesting situation."

The disease can be treated with antibiotics, but the aggressive illness kills up to 10 to 15 percent of its victims, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of those who survive, another 11 to 19 percent lose arms or legs, become deaf, have problems with their nervous systems, become mentally disabled, or suffer seizures or strokes.

The Jamie Schanbaum Act, the law that made vaccination mandatory, is named after a University of Texas student who survived the disease.

As many as 15 college students die each year and about 1,500 cases of meningococcal disease are diagnosed in the United States, according to the Texas Medical Association. In Texas, more than 50 cases of the disease were diagnosed in 2009.

Universities are working to help students receive the vaccine and find temporary housing, but students are responsible for hotel bills.

Roberts said McMurry students can stay with friends or in an extended-stay hotel that is giving university students special rates. Roberts also has a list of faculty and staff who are offering to host students temporarily.

So far, Roberts has set up two students with host family accommodations in what has been dubbed "Hotel McMurry."

When deciding where they will stay, "My first question is, ‘When did you get the shot?' My second question is ‘Do you have a car?' and my third question is ‘Are you allergic to cats?' "

She has about eight more staff and faculty members offering their homes, which she says is "an amazing statement of the service and family we have at McMurry."

At Hardin-Simmons University, spokeswoman Janlyn Thaxton said, "We are letting the students make their own arrangements for alternative housing if they find themselves in that position."

Abilene Christian University has some students in hotels and others staying at friends' homes.

Jeff Arrington, ACU's vice president for student life, said ACU has blocked off some hotel rooms, but he expects that 95 percent of the freshmen will arrive already vaccinated.

Eric Gumm, director of ACU's First-Year program stressed that the university will make an effort to ensure that those new students still are involved in orientation activities during the 10-day time frame away from campus.

He said ACU has extensively communicated with new students over the past couple of months.

At McMurry, Hoelscher said students have been notified all summer in information packets, admissions paperwork, housing paperwork and information presented during new-student orientation. Most university websites also have been posting information about the new requirement.

In addition, Hoelscher has processed files of incoming students, checking for documentation of the shot, and if she doesn't see the necessary paperwork, she said she will contact that student personally.

Sue Ann Biggs, university nurse at Hardin-Simmons, is doing the same thing.

"Hopefully we won't have many that aren't prepared," she said.

The vaccination is available at the Abilene-Taylor County Public Health District. School immunizations are given on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the first Tuesday of each month.

Bacterial meningitis is an inflammation of the membranes that cover the brain and the spinal cord, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. If not treated quickly enough with antibiotics, it can cause brain damage, hearing loss and even death in less than a day.

Bacterial meningitis is usually more severe than the viral kind. Its symptoms include high fever, headache and a stiff neck. It may also cause nausea, vomiting, difficulty looking into bright lights, confusion and sleepiness.

It's spread through the exchange of respiratory and throat secretions from things like kissing, coughing and sneezing, or drinking after someone else.